Motorized resilient drive railway truck

ABSTRACT

A motor transversely stabilized by links connected to the truck frame is mounted between two axles in a railway vehicle frame and having a drive shaft for each axle elastically coupled to its axle.

I United States Patent 1151 3,661,096 Kayserling 1 May 9, 1972 [54]MOTORIZED RESILIENT DRIVE [56] References Cited RAILWAY TRUCK UN1TEDSTATES PATENTS [72] Inventor: Kayse'lmg Numberg' Germany 568,779 10/1896Lockwood ..105/131 x [73] Assignee: Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-NurnbergAk- 2,404.1 15 7/1946 Williams 105/ 1 31 engesellschah' Numberg' GermanyFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] May 1969 1,065,225 9/1959 Germany..105/131 [21] App1.No.: 825,804 721,772 6/1942 Germany ...105/135838,452 5/1952 Germany ..105/136 1,065,255 9/ 1 959 Germany [30] ForeignApplication Priority Data Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point June 12,1968 Austria ..A 5631/68 Asst-slam E \.aminer Howard BeltranAt1orneyFrancis D. Stephens and Hugo Huettig, Jr. [52] U.S.Cl..105/ll7,105/131,105/135,

105/136 [57] ABSTRACT 51] Int. Cl ..B6lc 9/44 B616 9/52 B61f 3/04 Amotor transversely stab111zed by links connected to the [58] FieldofSearch ..105/13l,135, 136,117

truck frame is mounted between two ax1es in a railway vehic1e frame andhaving a drive shaft for each axle e1astica11y coupled to its axle.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures MOTORIZED RESILIENT DRIVE RAILWAY TRUCK Thisinvention relates to a drive for a railway vehicle having two or moreaxles with only a single engine mounted between two sets of wheels andconnected to the wheels by bevel gears and in which the engine driveshafts extend longitudinally in opposite directions with the bevel gearsbeing rigidly connected to the engine and elastically connected to therespective sets of wheels.

Heretofore, the engines for railway vehicles have been installed onpivotal mountings and the drive shafts connected to the wheels by meansof beveled gears as disclosed in German Pat. No. 721,772. A drive ofthis type is composed of a single engine mounted longitudinally of thevehicle, which engine is connected to the forward set of wheels by aflanged or bevel gear. The engine is mounted between two sets of wheelsand connected by oppositely extending drive shafts to each respectiveset of wheels. The axle for each wheel set is concentrically surroundedby a hollow shaft which supports the large gear of the bevel gear. Thishollow shaft is joined to its respective wheel axle by a rubber couplingforming a self-sufficient power transmission. Each rubber coupling isformed of an annular flange and an annular disc between which is anannular rubber member and in which the annular flange is connected tothe adjacent side of the hollow shaft and the annular disc with thewheel axle. This drive system connected to an electric motor is thuselastically supported by the rubber couplings on the wheel axles.Because of this elastic support on the wheels, the possibility ofpivoting the drive with regard to the wheel axles exists so that thetrack unevenness, if the bumps are not too high, can be absorbed veryeasily and almost without jarring the vehicles driven over the bumps.However, it has been found that, despite the elastic coupling, the drivemass is still relatively hard-sprung and does not have sufficient giveand that these rubber couplings permit only a very limited movementbetween the wheel axis and the motor, as disclosed in German Pat. No.838,452.

In order to make possible an easy movement of the shaft, attempts havebeen made to subdivide the shaft into three parts and to join theindividual parts by means of ball-like partial discs with intermediatelayers of an elastic material. The radii of these ball-like partialdiscs and/or rubber couplings as constructed have their common centerpoint on the center line of the shaft of the three shaft parts lying oneafter another. The engine driving force is transmitted by way ofa discpositioned on the center portion of the shaft onto the actual shaft.This again results in a relatively hard spring suspension of the enginemass and drive and very little movement is possible between the engineand the wheel, as disclosed in German Pat. No. 1,065.225.

Another form of drive for a railway vehicle is composed of an enginepositioned in the pivoting mounting mechanism of the vehicle as, forexample, a motor spring-supported by the axle spring support with ahollow shaft and two endless worm gear drives mounted directly on thewheel sets and in which the motor drives the sets of wheels by means ofuniversal joints connected to the worm gears for the axles which areconstructed as a hollow shaft. Furthermore, a differential drive wasconnected to the motor by a flange, which drive is electromagneticallycoupled through drive gears and which improves the uniform utilizationof the friction between the wheel and the track. This offers thepossibility of an improved spring support and shock absorption of thedrive mechanism on the one hand and the installation of the differentialon the other hand. However, this drive is quite complicated andexpensive and includes moreover an axle drive which is not springsupported, as shown in the Prospectus of Durand- Drive.

A drive for a railway vehicle has been tried in which the motor isspring supported by the axle springs and is provided with two each axledrives rigidly connected in each case to the adjacent side by means ofaflange, both ofwhich are effective on the wheel sets and in which thedriving force is transmitted from a large wheel positioned in the drivehousing by way ofa hollow universal shaft around the wheel axle onto thewheel disc, and in which the joint on the large wheel drive is composedof a joint lever coupling and the joint on the wheel disc of a rubberring jacketed spring. As compared with the heretofore mentioned drives,this is a drive mechanism that is better spring supported, absorbs moreshocks and gives an improved movement of the wheel axles with regard tothe drive when going around curves in the tracks, and a complicatedendless worm drive is avoided. However, this particular drive isgenerally more complicated and is more prone to need repairs asdisclosed in German Gebrauchsmuster 1,962,052, Nov. 25, 1966.

Also, a rubber ring drive of axle and bar suspended or chassis motorshas been used which is composed of an engine for each axle which isinstalled transverse of the longitudinal vehicle axis and which issupported on the side of a vehicle frame crossbeam by means of rubbersprings so that, in contrast to the axle and bar suspended motor, thefirst can also be supported on the axles of the drive wheels by means oftwo rubber springs and be both vertically elastic as well as with regardto rotation. The rubber springs are attached on one hand to the wheeldiscs and on the other hand connected by bell-shaped extensions to thehollow shaft which also supports the large gear wheels. The hollow shaftis further positioned in the engine housing and surrounds the axle withclearance. The function and arrangement of this drive is quite similarto the drive described for the aforesaid German Pat. No. 838,452. Whilethis drive is an improvement over the conventional and bar suspendedmotor, it is, however, hardly possible to use it in a longitudinallymounted one-engine drive as disclosed in the publicationSiemens-Magazine," Special Printing, 40th Year, Issue 11, Nov. 1966,pages 800 to 809.

Finally, two other further developments of the rubber ring spring driveare known, namely, the rubber ring universal drive and the rubber ringpendulum drive. Both are one-sided drives with the motors lyingtransverse to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame and whichoperate only one each set of drives.

In the rubber ring universal joint drive, the engine is rigidly mountedin the frame of the pivoting mounting mechanism, that is fully springsuspended from the spring suspension of the axle. This thus permits alarge play of springs both vertically and transversely. The rotarymovement or torque is transmitted by means of a one-sided drive and ahollow universal joint shaft which surrounds the drive axle onto thedriving wheel. The large bevel gear is mounted on a hollow pin in thecylindrical bearing and which is connected with the motor. An annularrubber spring is used on the drive wheel side as the universal joint.This universal joint is composed of six guide members or again anannular rubber spring which, however, in contrast to the annular rubberspring drive, is positioned between the universal joint shaft and thelarge bevel gear. The construction of this drive between transmissionand wheels is substantially the same as in the aforesaid GebrauchsmusterPat. No. 1,962,052.

The annular rubber ring pendulum type drive starts, as does the rubberring spring drive, from the axle and bar suspended motor. The engine ormotor, however, is not secured to the frame of the pivoting mountingmechanisms by way of springs but is suspended by means of two bolts on abroad basis on the crossbeam of the frame. On the side of the axle andbar suspended motor, it is supported by itself one-sidedly by means of arubber ring spring on the driving wheel. As compared to the rubber ringspring drive, this eliminates the hollow shaft as well as the secondlarge wheel member and the second rubber ring spring. The large wheelis, just as in the case with the rubber ring universal joint drive,positioned independently from the axle on a pin in the hollow shaft inthe cylindrical bearing on the motor housing. A transverse positioningof the drive axle is made possible by a universal jointlike movement ofthe ring spring without affecting the motor.

The object of this invention is to produce a railway vehicle drive inwhich it is possible to obtain an extensive flexibility or tilting ofthe wheel base independently from the type of motor suspension and itsdrive.

In general, this object is obtained in that the driven wheel of eachbevel gear is connected by means of one rubber ring spring and jointswith the axle of each respective set of wheels for the elastictransmission of the torque movement from the engine onto the wheel andconnecting the motor housing to the frame of the pivoting mountingmechanism by means of guide members or studs which act as supports forthe rotary or twisting movement.

Further advantages are advantageously obtained by means of thesefeatures and techniques. The construction of this invention is simpleand permits a universal joint-like movability of the driving axles. Theone-sided positioning of the elastic coupling on each respective wheelaxis makes possible a resilient spring suspension of the drive shaft anda flexibility for the wheel sets while the drive is as great as possibleand only limited by the elasticity and strength of the rubber ring beingused. A further advantage is obtained by the features of this inventionin that the use of a rubber ring pendulum type drive is possible formotors which are aligned longitudinally of the vehicle frame and whichdrive at least two axles. Also, the elimination of the second half ofeach respective elastic coupling for each set of wheels reduces theinitial cost of construction and the repair costs.

The means by which the objects of this invention are obtained aredescribed more fully with reference to the accompanying schematicdrawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the truck; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the truck partly shown in section.

On the railway vehicle pivoting frame 1 supported on two sets of wheels2 is the drive system 3. This includes an electric motor or engine 4connected to two oppositely extending drive shafts 5 and each of whichends in a bevel gear 6. These bevel gears 6 are fixed to the housing ofmotor 4 by means of a flange and are further connected to the largebevel gear 7 which, in turn, is joined to axle 8 concentricallysurrounded by a hollow shaft 9. Each hollow shaft 9 on one end has anannular flange 10. An annular disc 1 1 is secured to axle 8. Between theflange l and disc 11 is a rubber ring 12. Flange l0, disc 11 and rubberring 12 form an elastic coupling which is used to transmit and transferthe driving force of the engine to the sets of wheels. Each set ofwheels 2 has only one coupling and the coupling of one set of wheelslies in the frame 1 diagonally opposite the other set of wheels. Engine4 is connected through joints to two struts l3 and to the frame 1 sothat the struts act as braces for the twisting or torque forces. Theentire drive 3 is therefor supported by means of its elastic couplings,namely the flange 10, disc 11 and rubber ring 12 on the axle 8 of thewheel sets 2 in an elastic or resilient manner while the struts l3stabilize the position of the drive 3.

As shown in the drawing, the struts 13 also are arranged diagonally withrespect to each other across the frame 1. Consequently, this inventionuses only one strut 13 on each side of the engine instead of two. Also,in this invention, the rubber ring can be secured between the sides ofthe flange I0 and disc 11 rather than between the'circumferential edgeof disc 11 and the inner surface of a rim 14 attached to flange 10. Thiswould eliminate the rim l4 and gives the disc 11 a larger circumferencewhich may be approximately the same as that of flange 10.

When more than two sets of wheels are used with the drive 3 within theframework 1, the drive 3 is positioned between the axles 8 of two wheelsets so that, for example, the third outermost axle runs along with theother axles without having a separate drive. Of course, it is possiblewithin this invention that a further drive shaft is connected to one ofthe bevel gears 6 to drive a further bevel gear.

Having now described the means by which the objects of this inventionare obtained,

Iclaim:

1. in a drive mechanism for a railway vehicle comprising a vehicleframe, at least two axles supporting said frame, wheels joined to saidaxles, a single motor between said axles, a drive shaft rigidl connectedto said motor for each axle, a bevel gear oine to each drive shaft adacent each axle, and elastic means for transferring the bevel gearmovement to each axle, the improvement in which said elastic means iscomposed of a driven bevel gear connected to a single elastic couplingbetween the driven bevel gear and the axle for driving said axle, aseparate transverse torque reaction strut adjacent each axle pivotallyjoining said motor to said frame for holding said motor against twistingin said frame, said bevel gear and its adjacent strut for one axle beingpositioned diagonally opposite the bevel gear and axle for the otheraxle relative to the center of the frame, and the weight of said motor,drive shaft, gears and coupling being supported solely upon said axles.

2. In a mechanism as in claim 1, said driven gear (7) being mounted on ahollow shaft (9) concentric with the axle, and said elastic couplingcomprising a flange (10) joined to said hollow shaft and extendingperpendicularly outwardly beyond the axle, an annular disc 11) connectedto the axle, and an elastic member (12) connected between said flange(l0) and said disc (11).

3. In a mechanism as in claim 2, further comprising a rim (14) on theperiphery of said flange (10), and said elastic member being connectedto the inner surface of said rim.

1. In a drive mechanism for a railway vehicle comprising a vehicleframe, at least two axles supporting said frame, wheels joined to saidaxles, a single motor between said axles, a drive shaft rigidlyconnected to said motor for each axle, a bevel gear joined to each driveshaft adjacent each axle, and elastic means for transferring the bevelgear movement to each axle, the improvement in which said elastic meansis composed of a driven bevel gear connected to a single elasticcoupling between the driven bevel gear and the axle for driving saidaxle, a separate transverse torque reaction strut adjacent each axlepivotally joining said motor to said frame for holding said motoragainst twisting in said frame, said bevel gear and its adjacent strutfor one axle being positioned diagonally opposite the bevel gear andaxle for the other axle relative to the center of the frame, and theweight of said motor, drive shaft, gears and coupling being supportedsolely upon said axles.
 2. In a mechanism as in claim 1, said drivengear (7) being mounted on a hollow shaft (9) concentric with the axle,and said elastic coupling comprising a flange (10) joined to said hollowshaft and extending perpendicularly outwardly beyond the axle, anannular disc (11) connected to the axle, and an elastic member (12)connected between said flange (10) and said disc (11).
 3. In a mechanismas in claim 2, further comprising a rim (14) on the periphery of saidflange (10), and said elastic member being connected to the innersurface of said rim.